The Lifelong Learners and Dreamers who Keep the Trains Running
By Charlie Nadler
An interdisciplinary approach is at the heart of the Bennington experience for many students and faculty. On an ordinary day, you could pass a student in front of Dickinson who is studying quantum computing and ceramics while on your way to CAPA to meet with a faculty member passionate about political science and drama. What’s lesser known is the number of staff who also subscribe to this hyphenate ethos. This campus teems with employees who engage in a plethora of outside professional work that both catalyze and utilize their on-campus identities.
The profiles here reveal how they help to make and shape our amazing staff here while making change and shaping culture elsewhere.
Joe Tucker: From the Stacks to the Melodies
Joe Tucker (Director of Library Access and Research) was Boston born and a choir singer from a young age, which allowed him to sing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He learned bass and guitar and eventually played in a wide variety of groups, ensembles, and bands. Joe majored in Music and Classics at Trinity College and from there worked as a library staff member at Boston College where he commenced his studies to become a librarian. This path full of high notes landed him at Bennington in 2004.
“I don’t think I fully grasped [how great a fit Bennington is] when I first got here,” said Tucker. “But over time it became a place where people's individual interests or strengths were encouraged. Whether it was in the library work, but also just more broadly speaking, I think the College does a good job of encouraging people to pursue these goals.”
For example, early on in Tucker’s tenure, David Norman invited him and many others to become part of the musical ensemble for midnight breakfast. It became a larger group over time and depended on who was there and who was teaching. “David was persistent!” laughed Joe.
The harmony of music and great memories was frequent for Joe on campus. When he was here less than a year, a local drummer put up signs looking for a guitar player for a classic rock band. It led to Joe meeting a group of Bennington natives who didn’t have much contact with the campus except Gunnar Schonbeck who would bring kids up to campus to play his wild homemade instruments!
“Music is a really nice point of reference for interaction with people,” said Joe. Students will often want to chat with him about music. One could be wearing a T-shirt from a band that he recognizes, and this becomes a lively conversation starter.
Joe gives a lot of credit to voice faculty such as Kerry Ryer-Parke ‘90 and Tom Bogdan. Work done with them over the years has been a gift to help him as a musician. “Learning Meredith Monk music with Tom affected me so deeply,” Joe mused. “It showed me a way to be a performer. A way to carry yourself. Even just in life, beyond music.”
Lately Joe has been busy doing solo acoustic gigs at farmers markets throughout the area. He likes to keep it interesting for himself, striking a balance between songs that are relatively familiar alongside more obscure tunes that really resonate for him. Fresh veggies, fresh tunes!
Aila West: From Pedagogy to Plants
After moving to Bennington, Aila West (Associate Director, Prison Education Initiative) started farming with her husband. They raised pigs and catered, but eventually transitioned to growing herbs. Interested in herbalism for years, West was excited to learn more about it and began to grow herbs for Woodland Essence, a well-established and highly regarded herbal products company.
“My experience with farming has helped me to be more patient and to have a better understanding of the interconnectedness of all things,” said West. “I also learned how to be more resourceful and to think outside the box.”
West takes a great deal from Bennington to help inform her outside endeavors. She appreciates the College's encouragement of individual interests and its commitment to sustainability. She has also learned from her colleagues and students at Bennington. There have been a few times when both her worlds have collided. She has given talks about herbalism to students and also had students volunteer to help her with her herb farm.
“Herbs are great!” exclaimed West. “Farming herbs is hard work, but it is also very rewarding. I’ve learned a great deal about soil health, pest control, and other aspects of farming. I’ve also enjoyed connecting with other herb farmers and learning from them.”
West appreciates that the College encourages people to have lives. “To have time to put energy toward interesting things that fill out life,” she said. “Even though they are separate things, they really fit together well.”
Jude Higdon: From Technology to Activism
In his spare time, Jude Higdon (AVP for IT and CIO) runs a data science social justice research non-profit, the Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (QSIDE Institute) with his husband Dr. Chad Topaz.
Higdon and Topaz are currently working on a number of projects to address social justice issues, many of which revolve around the judicial system. “I believe that we are living in a time when the need for activism is greater than ever,” said Higdon, who aims to center the voices of marginalized communities in his work and frequently shares what he has learned with students and colleagues on campus.
“The point is to promote equity and justice in the world for people for whom equity and justice have not been part of their lived experience,” said Higdon. He spoke eagerly about an exciting time for the intersection of technology and justice, with AI changing things like never before. “These tools can help create a more just and equitable world,” said Higdon.
He has had a number of Field Work Term students who have worked for the nonprofit in paid internships over the years and was honored to be invited to several faculty members’ classes to talk about their research. “Given the College’s emphasis on antiracism and that being a core part of our work, there are some naturalistic synergies in the work I do there,” he explained. “It’s a community-based model wherever possible. We make sure it’s not academic only but also in service of justice activism. We often talk about bringing our superpowers and inviting others to bring theirs; then, we have a justice league.”
Rage Hezekiah: From Academic to Poetic Services
Rage Hezekiah (Associate Director of Academic Services) is a poet and educator who has received fellowships from Cave Canem, MacDowell, and The Ragdale Foundation. Her other accolades include the Saint Botolph Foundation's Emerging Artists Award, Diode Editions Book Contest Winner 2021, Lambda Literary Finalist, Vermont Book Award Finalist, and Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry Finalist.
“One of the things I really appreciate about Bennington is that this is the first institution I’ve worked for where I feel like what I do creatively is relevant to my work,” she said. “I was really surprised when one of my poems was published in the American Poetry Review, and then it was mentioned in the Bulletin. My reaction was ‘how do people even know?’”
While Rage certainly doesn’t expect that folks know about her writing, students will see her work and say “Oh, I didn’t know you were a poet!” Alumni will reach out to her and say. “We were published in the same journal!”
“Those connections happen pretty frequently,” said Rage.
Rage has taught First Year Forum workshops about playing with prompts and mindfulness, which is another tool that’s found its way into her writing. That kind of interconnectedness feels very folded into her work on campus, where she is constantly in conversation with students about their lives.
“I am honored that they share their authentic experiences with me, and I in turn share mine with them,” she said. “This helps me to better understand my own experiences, and it also informs my work as a writer and teacher.”
For example, Rage’s most recent book Yearn addresses how she learned about herself and saw herself in the world.
“I think it’s so interesting to be in conversation with young people today to see the way that their identities, their language, and the ways queerness, sexuality, and gender have changed,” she remarked. “The conversations I have with students help inform my understanding of my own experience, and I feel like that ends up finding its way into my work and translating to the page.”
A particularly cool intersection of Rage’s professional work occurred when she gave the convocation address a couple of years ago.
“I wrote [the speech] while I was at an artist residency,” she said. “The fact that I have a job where I can be transparent and say I want to take space to work on this thing and the fact there’s respect for that, that feels really unique to Bennington. Bennington is creating so much space for me to have this creative life.”
The campus itself is also an important creative muse for Rage. “Jennings Meadow is hands down the most poetic part of campus!” she shared.
In addition to his Bennington role as Communications and Marketing Manager, Charlie Nadler is a professional comedian who has performed in clubs, colleges, and festivals all over the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.